What, indeed, is the seemingly incomprehensible preoccupation we seem to have with land and can any piece of property ever be worth fighting, much less dying for?
This week’s portion, Terumah, introduces us to one of the most challenging concepts in Judaism.
“And they shall make for me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in their midst.” (Shemot 25:8)
Technically, one can find a distinction between the Sefardi school and the Ashkenazi equivalent. The former primarily relies on the opinion of the Shulchan Aruch which was written by Rabbi Yosef Karo (16th Century).
In a recent poll, Education Minister Rav Shai Piron was given the highest satisfaction rating of all current Ministers. The Religious-Zionist received a positive rating of 46%, beating the Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon into second place with only 32%. In third place…
Rabbi Mottle Wolfe –
The Month of Adar is the Hebrew month where we are told we experience the greatest joy. What is the essence of true joy? and how does the month of Adar differ from the month of Av?
Rabbi Jesse Horn – Yeshivat haKotel – Why does the midrash assume that we would have thought to place the Menorah inside the Kodesh HaKodashim? And, secondly, why would placing the Menorah in the Kodesh HaKodashim have been so bad?
Seventy-two years ago this week one of the greatest revolutionaries in Jewish history was assassinated. His name was Avraham ‘Yair’ Stern. He was hiding in a small coat closet in a clandestine apartment in Tel Aviv when the British police found him. Alone and handcuffed surrounded by three armed policemen, he was shot dead at the age of 34.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks – And so it has been throughout Jewish history. We carry with us all the fragments of our people’s past, the broken lives, the anguished deaths. For we refuse to let their deaths be in vain. They, our past, live on in us as we continue the Jewish journey to the future, to hope, and to life.
72 years after the assassination of Avraham “Yair” Stern, the leader of the Lehi movement and its first commander, about 350 people including Lehi fighters, second, third and fourth generations of fighters, members of the Betar and Bnei Akiva youth movements, Members of Knesset and ministers, came on Sunday to take part in the national memorial service held at the Nachalat Yitzchak cemetery in Givatayim.
The Israeli biomedical company that pioneered the application of cryoablation (a process which uses extreme cold to freeze and destroy diseased tissue) as a treatment for benign breast tumors (fibroadenomas), intends to expand its technology to the treatment of lung cancer, with a new clinical trial to begin in Japan.
This is the eighth in a series of classes entitled “Great Decisions”. In this series Rav Pruzansky, the Mora D’Atra of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun in Teaneck, NJ, examines some of the most important decisions made by the Jewish People in the 20th Century.
By Rabbi Moshe Kaplan of Machon Meir
Enjoy this audio shiur in which Rabbi Kaplan explores the Unity of Existence through the teaching of Rav Avraham Yitzchak haKohen Kook ztl
In the last few months, there has been a movement within the organization to create a new rabbinic body, to represent a sort of alternative to the Chief Rabbinate. There are no details, as yet, as to the identity of the members of this small forum, but it is safe to assume that they will be the senior members of Tzohar, led by Rav David Stav.
Even though there are several tensions between the Religious Zionist and Haredi elements of Israeli society, Chazan says that these are not an issue in the platoon. “I would be happy for the politicians to come here and see how we learn to unite without these tensions! In Netzach Yehuda we have Haredim, Religious Zionists and, in the headquarters, also secular.
In this entertaining and eye opening episode, Ari & Jeremy deconstruct then reconstruct the idea society plays in wealth distribution. Why should one give charity? Should it be regimented? Who should it go to? Are there superior forms of charity?
For the first time, a minyan will be held this Shabbat on Kibbutz Nir Am. Members of the youth movement Ariel in Sderot will walk the 20 minutes from the town to the nearby secular Kibbutz Nir Am.
Habayit Hayehudi Chairman, Minister Naftali Bennett, wrote an unprecedented letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu regarding the Committee for Equal Burden in Army Service. In his letter, he claims that the committee has violated coalition agreements regarding sanctions against Haredim who do not enlist.
Rabbi Binny Freedman – Slavery? Masters? Is this the reason we left Egypt behind us, to create our own system of slavery? Just last week, in the portion of Yitro, the Jewish people received the Torah, and began their journey to fulfill a dream, and create an ethical society on the way to a better world.
Our parsha takes us through a bewildering transition. Until now in Shemot we have been carried along by the sweep and drama of the narrative: the Israelites’ enslavement, their hope for freedom, the plagues, Pharaoh’s obstinacy, their escape into the desert, the crossing of the Red Sea, the journey to Mount Sinai and the great covenant with God.
Generally speaking, when we come across a reference to angels in the Torah, we do not necessarily have to engage in an extensive “pshat” investigation. In most cases, the intention of the verse is to basically refer to God, perhaps with the added import that it is a relatively indirect action of God.